


brother's keeper

by Mayarene Rose (Paradise_of_Mary_Jane)



Series: Whumptober 2019 [5]
Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Dick takes care of him, Family, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Tim Drake is Robin, Tim gets shot, it's not as angsty as it sounds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2020-11-24 07:24:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20903858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paradise_of_Mary_Jane/pseuds/Mayarene%20Rose
Summary: Robin gets shot protecting a civilian. Dick patches him up.





	brother's keeper

**Author's Note:**

> Day 5: Gunpoint
> 
> This was honestly meant to be a lot fluffier but uh.... Tim has a very sad life.

Tim’s swaying on his feet while they’re walking to the mini-hospital Bruce had installed on the cave. That’s not completely accurate because he’s not really walking. It’s more like he’s leaning heavily on Dick and still somehow swaying on his feet despite Dick’s strong grip on his shoulder. His shoulder hurts like hell, but it’s the only thing keeping Tim upright right now, so he’s not really complaining. Besides, Dick’s also putting pressure on the bullet wound and keeping blood in Tim’s body, where it’s supposed to be. That’s a good thing, right?

Tim thinks it’s a good thing, but he’s not sure. It’s getting pretty hard to think.

Blood loss, am I right?

“Just a little bit further, Timmy.” Dick’s voice sounds tinny and far away. Or maybe that’s Tim. The world is spinning a bit and is way too cold to be in the middle of May. He helped Tim change out costume without hurting his shoulder too much. Dick’s just nice like that. “We’ll get you fixed up soon enough.”

Tim smiles.

“Thanks Dick,” he says as Dick dumps him on the bed. Dick looks down at him. He’s looking at Tim weirdly as he gently guides Tim’s hand to the still bleeding wound.

“Don’t mention it,” Dick says. “Keep pressure on that, okay? We have to disinfect first.”

“I will,” Tim says serenely. “You’re a really amazing person, you know that? The most amazing person in the world.”

Tim looks up at Dick. He can’t really keep the dopey smile off his face. He’s just really grateful. Dick’s really nice. He could have just left Tim to get home himself home and lick his wounds. Tim can take care of himself. He’s pretty sure he can handle a gunshot wound.

But still, Dick stayed which is nice. Dick is a really, really nice person.

“I may have given you too many painkillers,” Dick declares.

“Probably,” Tim says. Apparently, painkillers hit Tim really hard. That or Dick and Bruce just have developed a really high immunity for them. It’s kinda funny if Tim thinks about it. Then again, everything seems really funny if Tim thinks about it too much.

The world’s just really funny right now.

He doesn’t notice when Dick pours out the antiseptic on his now bare shoulder. He thinks Dick said something but like he said: world’s really blurry right now.

“Sorry,” Dick says and he does sound genuinely sorry, which Tim appreciates. When he was six, Tim fell off a--he can’t really remember what he fell off of but it may have been their roof. Anyway, Tim fell off something and dislocated his shoulder. His mom popped it back into place and just told Tim to stop crying before they went to the hospital to get it checked it out. The doctor was much nicer than his parents and even gave him a lollipop because he said Tim was brave. Tim appreciated that.

TIm appreciates it when people are nice to him.

Dick sighs. “Tim,” he says. He sounds sad. Hearing him sad makes Tim sad too, and the smile slips off his face.

“Sorry,” Tim says. Pain killers. He hadn’t even noticed he’d been talking out loud.

“Don’t apologize.” Dick finishes cleaning the wound. It’s not that bad, really. Dick said it would just need a couple of stitches and he’d be all good. Tim doesn’t even really feel it because of the painkillers. “Just. The next time there’s a gun in front of you, get away from it.”

Tim thinks that’s a good idea, too. Except.

“There was a civilian,” he says. “He could have gotten hit. Better me than him.”

Dick looks like he wants to argue, but he just sighs again, sadder this time. Tim appreciates that, too. Dick’s better at being a hero than him. Tim knows that. If he argues with Tim, he’d probably be right. He could probably point out a hundred different ways he could have got out of the situation with both him and the civilian unscathed and.

Tim knows that. He does. But being face to face with that gun, with that cold barrel that is very intent on killing things?

He panicked and moved on instinct. And apparently instinct meant charging straight for the gun in a stupid attempt to disarm the perp. 

Kevlar can’t really do much against bullets shot at point blank. Tim had to find that out the hard way.

“Sorry,” Tim says. It feels like the thing he should say. Dick’s too nice to say it, but he knows he messed up.

“You don’t have anything to apologize for,” Dick says. He puts a hand on Tim’s shoulder, the uninjured one, and looks him straight in the eye. His eyes are sincere and solemn. Tim kind of wants to hide from it. It’s too real and in his experience, conversations that real were never good.

“You did good, Tim,” Dick says.

Tim stares. “What?” he says, because the world is a bit fuzzy so he must have heard things wrong. Dick didn’t just say _that, _right?

“You did good,” Dick says. “You saved that civilian’s life. You’re a hero.”

Tim searches Dick’s face for the lie, for any sign that he’s just trying to make Tim feel better for getting shot. There’s none, but he’s not really sure of anything right now.

“Oh,” he says.

“Get some rest,” Dick says. He helps Tim lie down on the bed. “You look terrible. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

“Okay,” Tim says and closes his eyes.

Dick is holding his hand. He hopes he’s not gonna let go.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm acediscowlng on tumblr
> 
> As always, comments feed me and give me life <3


End file.
